Classic Cover designation

[Tony S]

Why not Action #1? Is there a more classic comic and cover than this one

 

Completing the collection of classic cover Golden Agers just got a lot harder and more expensive.

 

[hockey&comicsguy]

There is a more recent, up to date list on the boards somewhere. Rangers 26 is obviously missing and I remember that being added to such a list so I know it's out there.

[Reno McCoy]

What makes a book's cover a classic cover? Simply how recognizable it is? How sought after it is based on the cover art alone?

[Flex Mentallo]

I can think of at least a couple:

 

Marvel Tales #95

 

LBSS #11

 

 

 

Not sure, but Dark Mysteries #10 and #19 may also have the appellation..must be tons more...

[comicnoir]

What makes a book's cover a classic cover? Simply how recognizable it is? How sought after it is based on the cover art alone?

 

It's an over used word these days, but how iconic it is, how it embodies qualities that represent all the other examples combined, eg PL 17

[Stevenrams]

I've always been a bit intrigued as to why the OSPG would designate "classic cover", but CGC does not. One such exampe would be Superman 146 (Silver Age origin issue). I have a slabbed copy and there is no such designation even though Overstreet claims it's a classic cover.

 

Or how about this: A board member has a CGC copy of Batman 156 (the classic "Robin Dies at Dawn cover") and CGC has designated the book as a classic cover. However, my CGC copy does not contain the designation. What's up with that? Did someone at CGC arbitrarily deceide that this book is no longer worthy of being a classic?

 

In the words of Kurt Vonnegut: "And so it goes".

 

SLR

[SNiPER]

What makes a book's cover a classic cover? Simply how recognizable it is? How sought after it is based on the cover art alone?

 

 

...Or how disturbing.

 

 

 

 

[Tony S]

I've always been a bit intrigued as to why the OSPG would designate "classic cover", but CGC does not. One such exampe would be Superman 146 (Silver Age origin issue). I have a slabbed copy and there is no such designation even though Overstreet claims it's a classic cover.

 

Or how about this: A board member has a CGC copy of Batman 156 (the classic "Robin Dies at Dawn cover") and CGC has designated the book as a classic cover. However, my CGC copy does not contain the designation. What's up with that? Did someone at CGC arbitrarily deceide that this book is no longer worthy of being a classic?

 

In the words of Kurt Vonnegut: "And so it goes".

 

SLR

 

If I'm wrong I apologize. But I believe you can request certain label notes be added. That doesn't mean CGC will always do them. But I believe you can ask (write it on the invoice)

[GreatEscape]

Maybe I can help

 

While I've been focused on OA these days, I still hope to complete my GA Classic Cover collection in this lifetime. Looking back, it was probably when CGC first put "Classic cover" designation on Action #1 that my goal became unattainable, and I moved full-time to OA. Thought I had a shot but Action #1

 

Below is my latest list, updated over the years, including all books that I've seen ever designated "Classic" by Overstreet and/or CGC. True, CGC labels may differ for many books, I just always buy/prefer slabs with "classic" on them. (thumbs u

 

Anyway, feel free to add/edit with any new/missing info. Good luck!

 

Dino

_______

 

Action Comics 1,36, 52, 61, 63, 89, 108

Adventure Comics 37, 67, 79

Air Ace V2#2

Air Fighters Comics V1#2, V1#6, V1#7, V2#1, V2#5

All-American Comics 21

All-American Western 113

All New Comics 8

All Select Comics 1, 2

All Star Comics 33

All Winners 4, 8

Amazing-Man Comics 6, 22

Amazing Mystery Funnies 2/5

American Air Forces 2

America’s Best Comics 18

America’s Greatest Comics 1

Astonishing 30

Atomic Comics 1

Baffling Mysteries 20

Batman 3, 11, 17, 23, 27, 156, 227, 251

Betty and Me 16

Beware! 10

Beware the Creeper 1

Big Shot Comics 24

Black Cat Mystery 50

Black Rider 20

Blue Beetle 54

Blue Bolt V1#4, V9#5, 106, 108

Blue Ribbon Comics 5

Bobby Benson’s B-Bar-B Riders 14

Boy Comics 10, 11

Boy Commandos 1,9

Brenda Starr V1#14

Camp Comics 2

Captain America 111, 113

Captain America Comics 2, 3, 7, 13, 18, 26, 28, 36, 46, 74

Captain Flight Comics 5, 11

Captain Marvel Adventures 4

Captain Marvel, Jr. 1, 4, 9, 13

Captain Midnight 3

Catman Comics 3, 19, 20, 28, 32

Choice Comics 3

Clue Comics 7, v2#2

Creepy #15

Crime Does Not Pay 24, 27, 33

Crime SuspenStories 20, 22

Crimes by Women 6

Criminals on the Run 7

Cyclone Comics 3

Dark Mysteries 10,19

Daredevil Comics 11

Dead by Hands of Kung Fu 14

Detective Comics 8, 17, 31, 33, 35, 69, 371

Doc Savage Comics 2, 5

Don Winslow of the Navy 44

Dynamic Comics 8, 18, 19

Exciting Comics 39, 46, 59

Fantastic Comics 3

Fantastic Four 25

Fight Comics 31, 44

Fighting Yank 21, 23

Flash Comics 8, 10, 21, 31, 33

Forbidden Love 1, 2

Four Favorites 10

Foxhole 1

Frankenstein 20

Frisky Animals 45

Funny Pages 35

G.I. Combat 87

Ghosts 2, 6

Giant Comics Edition 12

Great Comics 3

Green Hornet Comics 20

Green Lantern 1, 3, 8, 16, 29

Haunt of Fear 8, 11, 12, 14, 17

Headline Comics 8

Heart Throbs 1

Hit Comics 3, 5, 11

Holiday Comics 2

House of Mystery 231

House of Secrets 92, 100

Howdy Doody 6

Human Torch 12, 23, 33

Incredible Science Fiction 33

Iron Man 128

Jet Powers 2

Jo-Jo Comics 17, 25

Journey Into Mystery 89

Jumbo Comics 10

Jungle Comics 5

Justice Traps the Guilty 56

Keen Detective Funnies 20

Lars of Mars 10, 11

Lawbreakers Suspense Stories 11

Leading Comics 13

Liberty Comics 12

Living Bible 3

Lone Ranger 76

Mad 166

Magic Comics 19

Manhunt 14

Marvel Mystery Comics 5,9,12,28,29,37,40,44,46,63

Marvel Super Action 12, 13

Mask Comics 1, 2

Master Comics 32

Mickey Mouse Magazine V4#7, 10

Military Comics 10

Mister Mystery 12

More Fun Comics 54, 56, 61, 65, 71

Murder Incorporated 4

Mysterious Adventures 13

Mystery Men Comics 3

Mystic Comics 7

National Comics 7, 16, 21

Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. 5

Our Army at War 112

Out of the Shadows 8

Pep Comics 20, 28

Peter Panda 5

Phantom 74

Phantom Lady 17, 23

Power Comics 3

Prize Comics 4

Punch Comics 12,19

Racket Squad In Action 12

Red Dragon Comics 6, 7

Roly Poly Comic Book 14

Romantic Adventures 50

Science Comics 2, 3, 4

Scoop Comics 2

Seven Seas Comics 4

Shadow Comics 4, V2#11, V3#6, V8#2

Shock Suspenstories 1, 6, 7, 12

Silver Streak Comics 6

Slam Bang Comics 3

Slave Girl Comics 1

Smash Comics 38

Space Adventures 12

Spirit 22

Star Comics V1#3

Startling Comics 46, 49

Startling Terror Tales 11

Strange Tales 167

Strange Worlds 4,5

Sub-Mariner Comics 11, 13

Superman 14, 20, 23, 24, 26, 53, 146, 233

Super-Mystery Comics 4

Supersnipe Comics V2#2

Suspense Comics 3, 8, 9, 11

Tales of Suspense 58, 59, 80

Tales to Astonish 59

Target Comics V1#8, V2#10, V4#5, V9#12

Terrific Comics (Cont. Mag.) 4, 5

Terrific Comics (Myst Pub) 14

Terrifying Tales 13

Thrilling Comics 7, 41, 52

Thrilling Crime Comics 49

Tomb of Terror 15

Top-Notch Comics 5

True Crime Comics 3

United States Marines 2

USA Comics 7, 9

Vault of Horror 17, 30

Weird Chills 2

Weird Fantasy 15

Weird Mysteries 4, 5

Weird Science 12 (#1)

Weird Science-Fantasy 29

Weird Tales of the Future 4,7

Weird Thrillers 3

Werewolf By Night 15

Wings Comics 89, 90, 91, 94

Witching Hour 13

Wonder Woman 10, 179, 199

Worlds of Fear 10

Yellowjacket Comics 7

Young Allies 4, 8

Zip Comics 9, 15, 22, 32

Zoo Funnies 2

 

As of 6/21/2012

 

[Tony S]

awesome list - thanks!

[Cat-Man_America]

IMO, there are many classic covers that have never received special recognition of any kind. What makes them classic in my estimation is the overall design and quality of art. If a cover or group of covers really stand out in a run, those books should get the designation, end of story.

 

Examples:

 

Silver Streak #7 & 8 (6 is always designated, but Jack Cole's first two Daredevil covers get short shrift, and both are fabulous)

 

Here's the #7...

 

 

Hit #18 (Reed Crandall's first Stormy Foster cover is killer art with anatomical precision and an amazing perspective shot)

 

Marvel Mystery Comics #2 (Angel pre-war action)

 

Pep #9 (awesome Novick Shield cover)

 

These are just off the top of my head; there are so many GA books worthy of classic cover designation that I could probably list literally hundreds of orphaned charmers.

[pmpknface]

I'm with you on the Silver Streak #7, at least. On the plus side, I just opened my DCBS box for this week and what did I find? The SILVER STREAK HC that reprints 6-9! WOOHOO!!!

[TheEyeSees]

I'm with you on the Silver Streak #7, at least. On the plus side, I just opened my DCBS box for this week and what did I find? The SILVER STREAK HC that reprints 6-9! WOOHOO!!!

 

What that HC titled? I'd like to find out and order a copy! Thanks!

[MrBedrock]

I'm with you on the Silver Streak #7, at least. On the plus side, I just opened my DCBS box for this week and what did I find? The SILVER STREAK HC that reprints 6-9! WOOHOO!!!

 

What that HC titled? I'd like to find out and order a copy! Thanks!

Silver Streak Archives

[pmpknface]

That's it! Dark Horse put this out along with the recent CRIME DOES NOT PAY HC, that I just finished and was fantastic! They are putting out a v. 2 of that as well, so if the SS book sells well there's a chance they'll put out another volume of that too!

[TheEyeSees]

Thanks guys!

 

One more question: is the art reproduced from the original pages, or is the color dropped out and re-colored?

[MrBedrock]

Thanks guys!

 

One more question: is the art reproduced from the original pages, or is the color dropped out and re-colored?

I think it is recolored but the coloring is very true to the originals. Very well done.

[pmpknface]

I'd be willing to bet that they are re-mastered in some way. The pages are stark white and the colors shine as bright as the glossy dust jacket. The paper quality is also very high, which helps a ton. I opened up the SS HC and took a pic for ya, and took one of the CRIME HC too.

 

 

 

Here are some better interior CRIME shots that will give you a better idea: http://thecomixverse.com/?p=36559

 

FYI, they have solicited up to the 3rd CRIME book!

 

CRIME DOES NOT PAY ARCHIVES VOLUME 3 HC

Wood (W), Lev Gleason (W), Milton Kramer (W), Alvin Hollingsworth (A), Charles Biro (A), Carmine Infantino (A), Briefer (A), Alan Mandel (A), R. W. Hall (A), Jack Alderman (A), and Louis Trakis (A)

On sale Nov 21

FC, 240 pages

$49.99

HC, 6 5/8” x 10 3/16”

One of the best-selling comics of the 1940s, Crime Does Not Pay focused on violent mobsters and murderous lowlifes who machine-gunned their way through the urban underworld . . . until justice landed them in the chair! In 1954, the Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency targeted this comic series for its graphic violence, eventually leading to the creation of the repressive Comics Code Authority. Issues #30 to #33 of Crime Does Not Pay are finally collected in this deluxe hardcover, which includes “Million Dollar Robbery”—perhaps the first story in US comics history drawn by an African-American artist—and features a new introduction by comic-book giant Howard Chaykin (Marked Man, American Flagg!).

[TheEyeSees]

Thanks, pmpknface, for the shots!

 

The art definitely looks re-colored... but still looks like a pretty decent collection!

 

I wish publishers would just shoot the original pages, pulp-stock and all, rather than strip down all the color and then re-color the art...

 

 

[sacentaur]

Thanks, pmpknface, for the shots!

 

The art definitely looks re-colored... but still looks like a pretty decent collection!

 

I wish publishers would just shoot the original pages, pulp-stock and all, rather than strip down all the color and then re-color the art...

 

+1

 

I looked at the volume yesterday, and "decent" is an apt description for the re-coloring job. Nonetheless, was very surprised (and pleased) to see the volume featured on the shelf at my LCS. (thumbs u